The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Cleveland State
Blazers Win Two Friday At Wyoming Cowgirl Classic
9/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 12, 2008
Final Stats (UAB vs. Cleveland State)
Final Stats (UAB vs. Wyoming)
LARAMIE, Wyo. - The UAB volleyball team picked up a pair of wins Friday on the first day of the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic. The Blazers opened the day with a 3-1 win over Cleveland State and then pulled out a 3-2 victory over host Wyoming in the nightcap.
In its first match Friday, UAB overcame a slow start to earn a 3-1 (26-28, 25-10, 25-21, 25-19) victory over Cleveland State.
Six Blazers posted at least five kills in the win, including junior Andrea Lalic, who tallied a season-high with 17. Senior Ivana Bozic was the second UAB player in double-digit kills with 15. Bozic also added 10 digs for her third straight double-double and her fourth of the season.
Senior setter Nevena Stefanov played a strong all-around match, dishing out 46 assists and also contributing eight digs and five kills.
After falling behind by hitting only .143 in the opening set, UAB quickly turned things around. The Blazers logged a .545 hitting percentage as they cruised to a win in the second set. UAB cooled off slightly over the final two sets but still managed to win both, hitting .294 in the third set and .304 in the fourth.
For the match, UAB notched a .290 hitting percentage, while Cleveland State managed to hit just .156 as a team.
"We played really well offensively in that first match because we passed the ball so well," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "When we've passed well this year, we've had good results."
The Blazers were then back in action Friday night against tournament host Wyoming. After splitting the first four sets, UAB won a tight fifth set for a 3-2 (25-14, 25-19, 26-28, 14-25, 19-17) victory.
After taking the first two sets, UAB dropped the next two to set the stage for the critical fifth set. The teams traded the lead back and forth before Wyoming earned a match point at 14-13. A service error, though, evened things up again at 14-14.
UAB earned match points of its own at 15-14, 16-15 and 17-16. Wyoming managed to even the score on each occasion, but the fourth match point proved to be a charm. Leading 18-17, the Blazers got a kill from Lalic to finish things off.
The Blazers improved to 2-0 on the season in five-set matches.
"The girls showed a lot of character to stick with it and pull this match out," Messersmith said. "The have shown they are not going to quit, and, as a coach, you love to see that."
Lalic, who totaled 10 kills in the match, was one of four Blazers with double digit kills. She was joined by Bozic (15), Casey Dent (13) and Patty Paniagua (10). Paniagua led all players in the match with a .409 hitting percentage.
Senior Lilly Domingos also provided some clutch plays down the stretch, sealing three of the Blazers' final four points with kills. All three were set up by Stefanov, who tallied 48 more assists in the win.
"I think we played two really good teams today," Messersmith said. "Wyoming has a lot of talent. They are a scrappy team that plays good defense, and they hit really well against us tonight."
With the pair of wins Friday, UAB improved to 5-2 on the season and ran its winning streak to five straight matches. The Blazers are back in action Saturday to wrap up the tournament with a 5 p.m. MT (6 p.m. CT) match against Kansas.
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